Chapter 3: Workflow

One of the beauties of the Bensana, was that it was a pretty dense and compact suburban area. Most of civilization was all grouped up into the center of the land. The neighborhoods, the stores, the schools, they were all right by each other. Which made it easy to get around.

After leaving school early, Miharu decided that she might as well fill up her open schedule, by visiting her after-school job. Even though her shift wasn't scheduled to begin for another couple of hours.

After walking for about 10 minutes, she finally arrived in front of a small restaurant building. A burger joint with a sign in the window that read, "McDaniel's Fresh Burgers".

The inside of the restaurant was looked much bigger than it did from the outside. To the left, was the dining area. There were about 8 tables total with 4 chairs to a table. To the right, was the counter, which resembled the image of a diner. This was where customers could also sit and order their food. Behind the counter, there was a single door and a window that both lead to the kitchen. In the back-right corner, there was a staircase that lead to the apartment above the restaurant. That is where the owner resided.

At the moment, it was the middle of the day, on a Wednesday afternoon; so business was slow and the dining area was vacant.

"Yo Kenja, I'm here!" Miharu shouted, as she walked through the door.

Only a few moments after, the sound of footsteps were heard coming from the stairs. They would quickly grow louder, as someone was making their way down.

Emerging from the stairwell, was an elderly man. But despite his age and looks, he was tall and had a chest and shoulders that were both were very broad. His long hair, that was tied into a ponytail, was as silver as a shiny new dime. Yet his sideburns and beard was brown. He wore a bright blue polo shirt and khakis. And in his arms, he looked to be holding some type of unidentifiable clothing.

This man was Kenja McDaniel's. The owner of McDaniel's, as well as Miharu's boss and longtime family friend.

"Miharu? What are you doing here so early? You're shift doesn't start for another two hours."

"School let out early, so I decided to come straight here." Miharu responded. She then grabbed her apron off the hook and sat down on one of the stools at the counter.

"Now did school let out early, or did you let yourself out early?" He asked.

"What could you possibly mean by that Kenja?" She asked sarcastically. "Are you assuming I ditched school?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I am implying."

"Why, I could never. For you to think of me as a bad influence, is hurtful. Especially in front of little Hana over there." She said as she pointed behind the counter.

Peaking over the counter, were two large brown pigtails that stood out like a blot on a landscape. They belonged to the little girl, who was attempting to play hide and seek with Miharu.

"How did you know I was there, Miharu?" She groaned as she revealed herself.

That little girl was Hana, and she was Kenja's 10-year old adopted daughter. The most distinguishable feature apart her, were the two giant pigtails that stretched down her back. Her eyes were plain pink, like Lentia, Duza, Quiru, and Daijo, which meant that she was Shinpoen.

After having her cover blown, she made her way around the counter; revealing the elementary school uniform that she was wearing.

"How can I not notice you with those big *** pigtails?" Miharu responded, as she lifted Hana up and placed her on the stool beside her. "Hey, by the way, why aren't you in school either?"

"I didn't feel like going, so I told Kenja that I was going to stay home."

"Kenja, you are such a damn hypocrite." Miharu complained. "You will constantly get all on my *** about going to school, yet you allow Hana to stay home whenever she feels like it?"

"But look at her." Kenja said, as he pinched Hana's small cheeks. "How could anyone say no to such an adorable thing. I know that I couldn't."

Kenja was known to be a stern individual to most. But when it came to Hana, he was an absolute pushover. If Hana asked him to, he would crawl across the glass on his bare knees. That is how much he deeply loved her, despite her not being his true child.

"You're so ridiculous." Miharu said. She then glanced down at Kenja's arms and finally noticed the pieces of clothing that he had being carrying, from the moment he entered the dinging area. Now that she had gotten a close-up, it looked to be a shirt. "What is that you got there?" She questioned.

"This? Oh right, thanks for reminding me. Lucky for you, I just finished making the brand new 'McDaniel's' employee uniforms." Kenja held up a shirt with a horrid design of bright blue and yellow stripes all over. In the center, was the restaurant's name, written in bright white cursive writing. "And since you're here early, it means you can start your shift now. So go upstairs and put on your uniform." He ordered, as he tossed the shirt to Miharu.

"New uniforms? Hell no. I'm not wearing this ugly *** shirt. I'll just stick with what I'm wearing now." Miharu removed her sweater vest, leaving nothing but her white dress shirt.

"It's not a suggestion, it's an order."

"I'll do it some other time, okay?"

"Miharu, you need to grow up and learn to have a respect for authority. Now go put your uniform on."

"Hana, what do you think of these shirts?" Miharu asked the 10 year old child. "I think they're hideous. How about you?"

"Me too. If Miharu won't wear it, then I won't either." Hana then took her shirt from Miharu and tossed it into the nearby trashcan.

"But Hana, you're the one who designed them." Kenja said. "How can you tell me that you hate them?"

"Because they're ugly Kenja. You should've known better than to take fashion advice from a 10-year-old anyway." Hana said, as she high fived Miharu.

"Fine. I guess we can go casual today." Kenja said in defeat. "Just get to work, you two."

With that being said, Kenja made his way to the back kitchen, and began to cook up burgers and fries. Hana went into the janitors closet and grabbed her cleaning supply, in order to tidy up the place. And since there were still no customers, at the time, Miharu nonchalantly sat back and relaxed in her seat.

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